Rasmussen out
ivancarlos
Posts: 1,034
I have pain!
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Real shame.
Whether or not he doped is irrelevant, the fact that he showed such a disregard of blood tests in the year following some of the biggest cycling scandals shows he desrves to be fired/banned.
If he's innocent then thats a real shame, especially after the fantastic ride he did on Wednesday, but the fact remains we'll never be sure he's clean as he didn't attend all of the blood tests.
He's ruined his own career and I'm glad Rabobank have the guts to kick him out of the tour, even when he's race leader.
Hopefully now the natural order can be restored and Discovery will win!
Talking of which respect to Leipheimer and Contador, great rides both of them, just couldn't quite hold on to Rasmussen."I hold it true, what'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost;
Than never to have loved at all."
Alfred Tennyson0 -
Firstly, if there was any credibility left in our sport to outsiders then surely its gone now.
Secondly, and I have to be honest here, I feel a certain amount of sympathy for Rasmussen. He has been fired on circumstancial evidence. If that had been applied a few years ago, and riders got sacked on the basis of "well he might be guilty" then I dont think a certain American would have 7 victories.
Before everyone jumps at me on this one, if he is guilty then he not only deserves to be fired from the tour, but also his team (which has happened) and the sport in general.
While we're on the subject, did anyone see the interview with Millar last night. It was a prime oppertunity to speak about the problem that still exists within the sport from a first hand persepective, but instead he interviewed as if he had never taken anything stronger than lucozade and tut tutted his way through talking about others ruining the sport. Maybe he served his ban for drugs that cause amnesia instead of improving performance. :evil:0 -
notanotherhill wrote:Firstly, if there was any credibility left in our sport to outsiders then surely its gone now.
Secondly, and I have to be honest here, I feel a certain amount of sympathy for Rasmussen. He has been fired on circumstancial evidence. If that had been applied a few years ago, and riders got sacked on the basis of "well he might be guilty" then I dont think a certain American would have 7 victories.
Before everyone jumps at me on this one, if he is guilty then he not only deserves to be fired from the tour, but also his team (which has happened) and the sport in general.
While we're on the subject, did anyone see the interview with Millar last night. It was a prime oppertunity to speak about the problem that still exists within the sport from a first hand persepective, but instead he interviewed as if he had never taken anything stronger than lucozade and tut tutted his way through talking about others ruining the sport. Maybe he served his ban for drugs that cause amnesia instead of improving performance. :evil:
The argument is lying to the team = could be lying about doping, ergo guilty, which has been the downfall of many politicians. Doping is now such a serious commercial issue that it has to be taken with that same level of seriousness, unless you dont care whether or not the tour survives as a major global sporting event. The opposing view of course is a more black and white legal perspective: did he dope or not, and prove that he did before imposing a sentence. To my knowledeg, Armstrong neitrher missed an out of season test, not tested positive, or deliberately misled his team/tour organisers. You cannot therefore compare the two.0 -
Valid argument SteveR, but initially Rasmussen was fired before it came to light that he had actually missed 4 dope tests in the previous 18 months. Im not trying to turn this back to a Lance "did he didnt he" thread, but if you read enough literature about LA, how do you discount the allied medical professionals who stated that LA listed a significant amount of doping products when he had to disclose his medications to commence cancer treatment?
I also dont want to put across the wrong impression SteveR. I am completly anti doping, it has been the cancer on our sport for how long now? If they are doping, boot them out, sack them, and dont even let them have a C licence again to ride as much as club races. OK it wont fix the problem quickly, but over time, pro cyclists wont risk a full career for the sake of winning a race0
